STATEMENT BY SENATOR KENNEDY WELCOMES DECISION BY MINING SAFETY HEALTH ADMINISTRATION TO REVIEW FINES

Washington, DC – Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on the Mining Safety Health Administration’s (MSHA) Announcement it will review fines: “A review of MSHA’s lax penalty standards is long overdue. For too long the agency has allowed companies that repeatedly violate safety laws to pay fines lower than most parking tickets. Any new standards must ensure that companies that repeatedly violate safety rules and put workers at risk of injury receive fines that serve as real deterrents to jeopardizing miners’ safety—not mere slaps on the wrist. And we must enforce these fines and not allow violators to shirk their responsibilities through repeated appeals.” ###